New Babysitter

Mike and I went out last night in search of laptops that we like and to look at other things. We also had to get some groceries and other stuff for the house. Of all the babysitters that we have, none were available last night. So, we called Shelby Davidson who had been dying to watch the boys. She jumped at the chance. Obviously they had a great time with her and Spencer. Spencer sent Mike a text message at one point and told us not to hurry home, they were having a blast. I was worried that they would be a pain for her and she'd never want to watch them again. I don't guess they were because she was more than eager to watch them another time. It just get a bit expensive for us! I want to pay whoever I ask to sit well enough that it's worth their time. I remember sitting when I was younger and it not really being worth my time for the money. I guess it doesn't hurt once in a while to have someone else watch them and pay them. I'm just glad we have someone to fall back on if no one can watch them.

KC Zoo Weekend

I'm a little behind on posting this but we went to KC last weekend to get away for a day. Actually, it was Teacher Appreciation Day and we all got in free. Kudos to Shara for sending the invite to me. We had a great time! We (or at least I was) as we left Joplin and the rain was coming down. We drove in and out of showers, which were sometimes pretty hard. We got to the zoo and it was showering. When it slacked off we decided to go on in and Ryan and Shara got there about that time. It was still sprinkling some when we went in. After going through the education building, we went out and it had pretty much stopped raining! We rode the tram to see the Africa exhibit and spent quite a while there. Then we visited the Austrailia and Asia exhibit and rode the carousel. We decided to leave after seeing that the train was gone and wouldn't be back for 30 minutes. It started to rain as we left- great timing!

We decided to go down to Crown Center to a train restaurant. The food is delivered to you by a train. The food is in a basket under the tracks and the food is stopped by an arm that comes out on the platform above your table. It comes down the platform to your table. The kids can sit and watch trains go by the table from the windows that look like train car windows. Matt and Drew loved every minute of that place. The food was also very reasonable for Crown Center.

After eating, we walked over to the Amtrak platform to see if there were any trains waiting to leave or on the tracks. None were there by that time of day although there was one pulled inside the building. The boys saw it and liked it. They also had model trains on display in Union Station. One huge display was being set up and Drew wanted to stay there forever. All he could do was say Choo, Choo.

We left there and went to Cabela's. I wasn't impressed. Bass Pro is much better and has a lot better clothing/shoe selection. We saw stuffed animals there and saw their little shooting range.

Next stop was the Legends "Shopping/Entertainment" Center. We were going to go to the T-rex Restaurant but Matt was scared to death of the giant T-Rex inside the door. He screamed not wanting to go in. So we went to the Cajun restaurant instead. It took us forever to get a table and eat and by then we had one sleeping child and another who need to be that way. The food was pretty good and the entertainment ok. We were definitely pooped when we got back to Ryan and Shara's after 10pm.

Drew slept well after he went down but Matt had a short nap at 8pm and didn't really go to sleep until after 1am. That was hard on Mike and I as we were both up the night before until late and then up very early. They both slept in until 9am though. We got up and got dressed and then went and ate pizza at Uno Chicago Grill before heading home. We had a great time and I can't wait to do it again. I just wish I would have taken my camera!

Full of Knowledge

Matt is starting to become a plethora of information. He can now remember songs and asks me to sing with him on occasion. He is starting to recognize a few of his alphabet letters and knows what letter his name starts with. I asked him the other night if he wanted to learn how to read and he adamantly said "yes". So we may start in that direction.

Drew is starting to pick up a few more words and sounds. He says a few words much more plainly than he did. I know that I shouldn't worry about him, but I do. I don't want to have a child that struggles to learn and grow. Words are starting to become a bit of frustration for him and he's choosing to just not talk. He can do sounds now for objects such as trains, fire trucks, cows, sheep and a few other animals. And boy do we know when his favorite cartoon comes on! I hope we continue in this direction and he learns some more before returning to the doctor in November. I'm really concerned that she's going to suggest speech therapy or some other intervention if he isn't doing better in that area.